Defence Ministry approves 9 communication jammer aircraft for IAF

NEW DELHI: Boosting the intelligence gathering capabilities of IAF, the Defence Ministry has approved the procurement of nine signal intelligence and communication jammer aircraft for the force.

At the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting on Saturday, Defence Minister A K Antony approved the IAF proposal worth Rs 1100 crore for procuring nine communication and signal intelligence aircraft for the IAF, sources said here.

The aircraft would be used by the force to gather intelligence on its its signal activities and jam its communication devices, they said.

After the approval of the DAC, the IAF would now issue a tender for the procurement process for which a number of defence firms including American and Israeli manufacturers are likely to respond.

In another step to provide level-playing field to the Indian private sector, the DAC has cleared an amendment in the DPP under which the Indian bidders would be allowed to bid in stable currencies such as the USD and euro.

"The new amendment in the DPP will allow Indian vendors to bid the foreign exchange component of their bidding amount in stable currencies such as US dollar, pounds and euros," the ministry said.

"Payments towards foreign exchange content can be made in the foreign currency to the successful Indian bidders. Also, foreign bidders can be paid in Indian currency for the goods and services they provide in India," it said.

The ministry will send a proposal to the Finance Ministry for its approval to help Indian firms who suffer on the account of exchange rate variations.